The invention concerns a horn shaped rear view mirror assembly for commercial vehicles, in particular, for buses.
For buses, more and more attention-getting mirror designs are being employed. At least one of these shows a mirror construction installed far forward, extending outwardly from the upper ends of the A-columns of the bus body. In the case of these outlying designsxe2x80x94the so-called xe2x80x9chorn mirrorsxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94a main mirror and supplementary mirrors are integrated for the driver""s supervision of the entry area and the front zone which is not visible to the said driver.
A representation of such a horn shaped rearview mirror assembly has been brought into public knowledge by DE-44 29 604 A1. Another such horn shaped rearview mirror assembly is known from EP-A-0 865 967. The latter encompasses a support arm, mountable on the vehicle body having a carrying tubular structure as the basic element, a main mirror in a housing fastened on the free end of the tubular structure, and an advantageous motorized, adjustable mirror pane located in said housing. Further, EP-A-0 865 967 discloses a molded component, which supports supplementary mirrors and envelopes as a cover the tubular structure between its body end and the main mirror.
In this known rearview mirror assembly, the main mirror with its housing and the support arm with the molded component, along with the therein integrated supplementary mirror, make up two separate construction components, which are connected with one another. This two-part structure leads to certain limitations in the design of such horn shaped rearview mirrors and likewise leads to a sectional structure. Moreover, the mounting of such a horn shaped mirror becomes complex through the multi-part assembly.
Thus it is the purpose of the present invention to bring the known horn shaped rearview mirror of EP-A-0 865 967 into a more compact form.
The achievement of this purpose is accomplished through the features of the present invention.
In accord with the invention, the housing of the main mirror is integrated into the molded component, and the main mirror and at least one supplementary mirror are mounted in a single mirror head. By means of dispensing with the separation between the main mirror and the supplemental mirror a compact and elegant mirror design is possible. The compact form with a mirror head possesses also additional advantages, since whistling noise engendered by the wind while traveling is avoided. Such noise can occur in the two-part design in accord with the present state of the technology. Also, in the matter of the air resistance, this is improved by the more compact mirror head.
In accord with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a single supplementary mirror is provided for the monitoring of the zone in front of the vehicle and the zones left and right between the forward end of the vehicle and the front axle of the vehicle. In this way, by means of one mirror, the function of the previous two mirrors is taken over and at the same time a more compact construction is made possible. Further, from the use of one instead of two supplementary mirrors, a substantial ergonomical advantage arises, since now only one supplementary mirrorxe2x80x94for two dead angle zonesxe2x80x94and one main mirror need be observed.
According to one advantageous aspect, the invention provides a simplified form of the supplementary mirror, with which two different dead angle zones can be monitored.
In accord with a further advantageous aspects of the invention, a cover of the molded component is provided. By means of this cover, first, the molded part with the parts located thereunder are protected, and second, these covers are then lacquered to match the vehicle color.
In accord with another advantageous aspect of the invention, on the mirror head a peripherally encompassing water dispersing rim is provided. Water and dirt, in the case of rainy weather, are prevented by this water dispersing rim from being transported onto the mirror surface by the wind during travel.
In accord with a yet another aspect of the invention, the mirror assembly is so conceived, that the mirror assembly can be caused to fold forward in the direction of the windshield, or fold backwards in the direction of the side windows. With this measure, the mirrors need not be dismounted during the use of drive-thru wash machines.
In accord with yet another aspect of the invention, the mirror assembly, in accord with the invention, is mountable on the vehicle by means of a clamping mechanism, which makes possible a simple demounting, i.e. removal of the mirror assembly from the vehicle. This clamping mechanism is the object of an Application submitted on the same day as the presently submitted Application (Patent Attorney""s file designation: P/11ML0309/DE), U.S. application Ser. No. 09/302,822, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,231, regarding which, full cognizance will be taken in the present instrument.
Further advantageous aspects of the invention will be found in the remaining subordinate claims.
Further features, details and advantages of the invention are provided in the subsequent description of a preferred embodiment made with the aid of the drawings.